A walled cloth town on the Bisenzio between Florence and Pistoia, around the great pieve of Santo Stefano with its relic of the Virgin's Girdle.
It fought beside Florence against the Alberti in 1184 and joined the Tuscan League after November 1197.
Who holds it
- Name
- Consuls (names not pinned)
- Title
- The commune
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The commune of Prato. The Alberti counts stopped appearing as counts of Prato about 1180, and imperial envoys (nuntii) had replaced them for a time in the 1160s and 1170s; on 1 January 1200 no lord or imperial officer governs the town.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing, allied with Florence, in the Tuscan League; hemmed in by the Guidi's Montemurlo, the Alberti's Val di Bisenzio and Pistoia's contado (tuw).
Charter
Frederick I's privilege of 1164 to Count Alberto still names the old comital rights; the commune's consuls govern since the Alberti's eclipse (about 1180). Pope Paschal II judged the tithe dispute with Pistoia for Prato's pieve in 1142.
Council
Consuls and council (names not found).
Communities
The provost and canons of Santo Stefano.
Fairs and markets
Markets; pilgrim feasts of the Holy Girdle at Santo Stefano (relic officially recognised in 1173).
Militia
Town host; fought with Florence against the Alberti in 1184, against Pistoia at Carmignano in 1154 (a heavy defeat).
Walls and castle
New walls begun in 1157 and finished before the end of the century; the later imperial castle is Frederick II's (1237 onward), not yet.
Trade and crafts
Wool cloth and fulling on the Bisenzio channels, the market of the plain, the road from Florence to Pistoia.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Dates from it.wikipedia (Storia di Prato) and the League article; officers not found.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.